New Milford Creative Playground fundraising efforts swing forward

By Nanci G. Hutson, staff writer

Published 12:09 am, Tuesday, September 1, 2009

NEW MILFORD -- Parks &amp; Recreation leaders have been working with local volunteers and donors collecting money to build a new Creative Playground on the site of the former one at John Pettibone School.

On Wednesday night, some 200 people came for a pasta dinner at The Maxx, the Youth Agency-operated teen and community center, that raised just over $900. The Youth Agency donated both the facility and the food.

Parks &amp; Recreation Assistant Director Eleanor Covelli said there is an anonymous donor willing to match whatever the community collects by Labor Day, up to $50,000. So far $20,000 has been raised, including almost $3,700 in the schools' Pennies for the Playground campaign.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed," Covelli said about getting the full match from the anonymous donor.

Several events, including a softball tournament, a summer soccer camp and a movie night, are in the works.

Before the end of the school year, Covelli and Calhoun invited some playground vendors to show off some of their wares so that the public could begin to think about what type of playscape they want to have into the future. Several vendors said the community could clearly build a playground in stages based on finances and volunteer labor, with $100,000 a target figure for a modest modern playscape.

No firm decisions have yet been made on what is to be built as organizers continue to raise the money so they can build something that will attract a new generation of children.

The original Creative Playground, with tire swings, turrets and moving bridges, was razed last year for safety reasons after 22 years of use.